Is this the end of intimacy? Big Ideas decoded with UTS

What are the moral contradictions surrounding sexuality and sexual relationships and  should we be saying screw intimacy?

University of Technology Sydney academics explore the new sexual frontier of sex robots, prostitution, technology and porn. Is this the end of love as we know it? The assumption that sex must always involve intimacy will be challenged by Dr Belinda Middleweek, Dr Alan McKee and Eurydice Aroney as they discuss the moral contradictions surrounding sexuality and sexual relationships. Bring an open mind and questions for a riveting conversation moderated by Dr Honni van Rijswijk.

Panel: Dr Belinda Middleweek

Belinda Middleweek is a senior lecturer in journalism and media studies at UTS. She is currently researching sex journalism as well as mediations and technologies of intimacy, in particular, intimate interactions between humans and robots.  

Professor Alan McKee

Alan McKee is an expert on entertainment and healthy sexual development. He holds an Australian Research Council Discovery grant entitled ‘Pornography’s effects on audiences: explaining contradictory research data’; and a Wellcome Grant entitled ‘Investigating mediated sex and young people’s health and well-being’.

Eurydice Aroney

Eurydice Aroney is an award-winning radio journalist and UTS academic who has received national and international acclaim for her radio documentaries. Eurydice is also a foot soldier in the campaign for sex work law reform and the decriminalisation of sex work.

Moderator: Dr Honni van Rijswijk

Dr Honni van Rijswijk is a graduate of Sydney Law School and received her PhD from the University of Washington. She is currently a lecturer at UTS.

This event is in partnership with Vivid Ideas and UTS. 

The end of intimacy as we know it
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Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.